When Hewitsons contacted me to do the corporate headshots for all their staff on their four locations it was clear that it was essential that the headshots were uniform across the locations. We took the photos over four days, over two hundred people in total in four different cities, Cambridge, Northampton, Milton Keynes and London. When doing projects of this size and you need to deliver uniformity, you cannot leave things to chance. The light levels on each location will be different and knowing how to manipulate the light will be primordial to achieve a coherent look.

During a preliminary meeting, Marketing Manager Sarah Head gave me the brief and we agreed on a look that matches the corporate brand. Equipped with my Canon 85mm lens, backdrops and my trusty Profoto B1’s I started the task of shooting eighty-five people in their Cambridge office. Sarah had worked out a minute schedule. With five minutes per person, there is only enough time to work with the person so they feel at ease and you can take that perfect shot. With some people, you do not need five minutes. Sometimes the test shots were the ones we went for!

As time is such a critical factor when you are taking headshots on the client’s premises, I offer the client the chance to select the photos there on the spot and then through tethering the images straight to my laptop.

The days after the shoot was spent in postproduction. However useful Photoshop might be, when it comes to over 200 headshots you do want to get it right on the camera so the postproduction is minimal. Typically, I remove some minor imperfections on the image but do not touch the toning or lighting quality at all as I paid attention to create identical lighting for each image.

The collaboration with Sarah was very pleasant and effective. Thanks to her careful organisation, the shoots went so smooth and the atmosphere was relaxed resulting in high-quality headshots.

If you are looking for headshots for your staff, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I would love to hear from you.

Author portraits Cambridge

A photoshoot with David Kirkpatrick

Recently, I had the pleasure to meet David Kirkpatrick in my studio and I took a range of images for his new book. He is a New York Times writer based in London and used to be the New York Times bureau chief in Egypt. His book has just been published which is about the politics in the Middle East.

Here a few samples from the photo shoot which was very enjoyable!

What’s the difference between a traditional headshot and business portrait?

The traditional studio headshot is classic and still a great way to represent ourselves. Still a powerful tool for marketing individuals and companies on websites or social media.

Business portraits tend to say a bit more about us as they are mostly taken in our natural environment, office or workspace.

Creating an online identity is very important for us all without a doubt. I believe a business portrait is a stronger tool to market ourselves as we can say a bit more about who we are, what we are doing and how we are doing. Our body language, office space, the tools we use are part of our branding and communicate our vision more effectively with business portraits.

We all have different needs and there is no solution will fit all. I’m a strong believer in branding and I like to reflect on every commission beforehand, which would be a better fit for each individual’s need,  a traditional headshot or a business portrait.

Let me know which one fits your business model and feel free to get in touch to discuss your online identity.